Victoria herself said that Dinnerladies looked old fashioned against the Royle Family but I believe that its format is its strength. I remember watching the first series and thinking this is not as good as I expected from Victoria Wood but you have to watch it again because now I think both the series are genius. Fantastic scripts (apparently there is not an ad-lib, everything is tightly scripted) written brilliantly. It rewards repeated watching and just gets funnier every time you see it. The performances are fantastic from all the cast-special mentions for Andrew Dunn, Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Shobna Gulati, Anne Reid and the fantastic Thelma Barlow. Maxine Peake (brilliant actress) was so lucky to get the part of Twinkle as her first acting job. Even the small appearances are wonderfully observed and performed.I find it incredible that Miss Wood can write, compose, act and play at such an incredibly high standard. Whether other countries could really relate to the humour is a mystery to me but comedy relies on timing and I find myself laughing at US references in Frasier even though I may not know the situation they are referring to. I think thats down to timing. Maybe Dinnerladies will work that way too, 'cos the timing is spot on.If you have watched and not liked it,try it again-you may be very pleasantly surprised. I am watching again for what must be the twentieth time, both my wife and I still laugh out loud at lines we know backwards. That is the combination of writing, performance and timing.I guess it is peculiarly English and will not travel well, but that does not make it any less brilliant. Oct 2012 - I have just watched episode 1 of series 1 , having caught it on Gold. It was the one with which I was originally disappointed . I cannot for the life of me see why now. It just hit the ground running and was a hoot from the beginning. The characters were fully formed and incredibly acted down to the smallest part, for example - the stripper delivers her couple of lines with consummate skill. If I have one criticism it would be Julie Walters' part - the viewer is left to decide whether she is totally barmy or not and she seems a little young to be Victoria Woods' mom. It is a piece of work which can be watched again and again and still find funny stuff and lines which you missed the last time round.

I never watched this when it was originally transmitted, but taped an evening of it on UK Gold on the recommendation of a friend. I've watched three episodes, and I don't know where they figure chronologically in the series (they're preparing to go to Marbella), but it seems to assume some knowledge of the characters.I've never been a huge fan of Victoria Wood - that cosy twin-set'n'pearls/there's a sale on at Marks's type humour leaves me cold. And I can see what she's trying to do here - it's very densely written, with great attention to wordplay and rhythm - but it still doesn't completely work for me.As with the Royle Family (which I detest) I find this slightly patronising. I don't like to see acting folk showing us how they think working class people act and speak - would EVERYBODY in the canteen really say "Mar-BELL-a"? I don't know a single person who does, and I spend my time with people of all classes.Some of it raises a wry smile, but I don't know whether I'll sit through three hours of it. Duncan Preston is always good value, ditto Celia Imrie.I would rate it as a curate's egg, gone off slightly.

with regards to the comments on this TV show by REPRO, all I can say is watch it again in another 10 years, remember it took that long for "Monty Python" to be appreciated around the world, but don't worry about being so far behind in your appreciation, the rest of the world catches up with the Brit humour EVENTUALLY, just remember "Are You Being Served" "Keeping Up Appearences" and "Benny Hill" are just a few examples.

I also remember a time when British comedy was funny - and it still is regardless of its many detractors.'Dinnerladies' is up there with the better British comedy shows of the late 90's. It shows some young, and not so young ladies going through the daily running of a factory cafeteria. The characters are very interesting, and the writing is well suited for them.All in all, its not the best but its good enough if you're needing some light entertainment to cheer you up.